A Lovely Little Book Blog

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30 something year old writer, reader and member of the Travel Industry. I used to read more than I do, so it’s all about getting that enthusiasm back.

  • Hemlock Island by Kelley Armstrong

    Title: Hemlock Island
    Author:     Kelley Armstrong
    Source:     Netgalley. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
    Genre:     Horror.
    Trigger Warnings:     Torture, death, occult.
    Explicit?     Not for sex. But dang this is one intense book.
    Summary:     Laney Kilpatrick has been renting her vacation home to strangers. The invasion of privacy gives her panic attacks, but it’s the only way she can keep her beloved Hemlock Island, the only thing she owns after a pandemic-fueled divorce. But broken belongings and campfires that nearly burn down the house have escalated to bloody bones, hex circles, and now, terrified renters who’ve fled after finding blood and nail marks all over the guest room closet, as though someone tried to claw their way out…and failed.

    When Laney shows up to investigate with her teenaged niece in tow, she discovers that her ex, Kit, has also been informed and is there with Jayla, his sister and her former best friend. Then Sadie, another old high school friend, charters over with her brother, who’s now a cop.

    There are tensions and secrets, whispers in the woods, and before long, the discovery of a hand poking up from the earth. Then the body that goes with it… But by that time, someone has taken off with their one and only means off the island, and they’re trapped with someone—or something—that doesn’t want them leaving the island alive.

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  • Review: Cleat Cute by Meryl Wilsner

    Title: Cleat Cute
    Author:     Meryl Wilsner
    Source:     Netgalley. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
    Genre:     Romance, Contemporary.
    Trigger Warnings:     None that I could think of but if you find any let me know.
    Explicit?     Oh boy is it.
    Expected Release Date: September 19, 2023
    Summary:     Grace Henderson has been a star of the US Women’s National Team for ten years, even though she’s only 26. But when she’s sidelined with an injury, a bold new upstart, Phoebe Matthews, takes her spot. Phoebe is everything Grace isn’t—a gregarious jokester who plays with a joy that Grace lost somewhere along the way. The last thing Grace expects is to become friends with benefits with this class clown she sees as her rival.

    Phoebe Matthews has always admired Grace’s skill and was star struck to be training alongside her idol. But she quickly finds herself looking at Grace as more than a mere teammate. After one daring kiss, she’s hooked. Grace is everything she has been waiting to find.

    As the World Cup approaches, and Grace works her way back from injury, the women decide to find a way they can play together instead of vying for the same position. Except, when they are off the field, Grace is worried she’s catching feelings while Phoebe thinks they are dating. As the tension between them grows, will both players realize they care more about their relationship than making the roster?

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  • Review: Donick Walsh and the Reset-Button by Nathaniel Shea

    Title: Donick Walsh and the Reset-Button
    Author: Nathaniel Shea
    Source: Netgalley, I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
    Genre: Contemporary, YA, Romance
    Trigger Warnings: Homophobia, bullying, abuse, suicide.
    Explicit? No.
    Release Date: August 15, 2023
    Summary: Donick Walsh: king of the school bullies, secret dancer, closet-case. What’s to be done when a football injury means he can never play again? Dance in the school musical, of course! Not like he has a choice. Fingers crossed his father doesn’t find out!

    Enter Michael Penrose: theatre-kid, and Donick’s former best friend. For years Michael has been the object of Donick’s ridicule simply because Michael is out and proud, and Donick is afraid.

    Suddenly confronted with his old friend, Donick sinks under the weight of the guilt of his past. How can a bully make amends for all the hurt he’s caused? How can a closeted ex-high school football player make peace with the very real crush he suddenly has on a boy? And what in the world can be done to hit the reset-button on an entire life?  Donick Walsh and the Reset-Button  examines the confusing nature of what it means to forgive, the discovery of living one’s authentic self, and yes, even the joys and pains of first love.

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  • Review: In the Case of Heartbreak by Courtney Kae

    Title: In the Case of Heartbreak
    Author: Courtney Kae
    Series:     Fern Falls
    Source:     Netgalley. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
    Genre:     Contemporary romance.
    Explicit? Yes, but you won’t complain.
    Trigger Warnings:     Child abuse, gaslighting, missing child
    Release Date: July 25, 2023
    Summary:     When his hometown crush suddenly returns his affections at a seaside celebration, pastry chef Ben Parrish must find a way to pursue his dream of moving his bakery to San Francisco – without losing the love he’s always wanted…

    Ben has been baking his grandma’s cinnamon rolls at the family café for years. He’s been quietly in love with Adam Reed, his musician-slash-mechanic neighbor, for just as long. But Ben’s done waiting behind the pastry case. He’s entered a make-or-break competition to show off his own recipes. He’s going to buy his overprotective family out of the business. And he’s going to ask Adam out. TONIGHT.

    Except his big plans get punched down before they even half-rise. Soon Ben is dashing down the coast to his grandma’s 80th birthday party on the beach, hiding his broken heart in Maywell Bay, California. Sun, sea, and fresh breezes should blow in something new—except they don’t. They blow in Adam Reed, grinning like a pirate and stealing the show as the musical entertainment hired by Grandma for her big bash. Grandma’s signature Heartbreak Tea is the only remedy, and Grandma’s tea could take the paint off a fence.

    But there’s a burn of truth along with the booze in his bottle, and Ben has a decision to make. Can he take the sweetness in front of him, and brave the bitterness that comes after? Or is a little sea salt just what this cinnamon roll needs?

    Salty cinnamon rolls? Ew. Ben would never.

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  • Review: I Like Me Better by Robby Weber

    Title: I Like Me Better
    Author: Robby Weber
    Source: Netgalley. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
    Genre: Romance, YA
    Explicit? Nope.
    Trigger Warnings: Animal abuse…sort of?
    Summary:

    This is not how soccer-star Zack Martin thought his summer would go. When the captain’s prank means trouble for the whole squad, Zack’s left with no choice but to take one for the team and cover for him.

    Now he’s trading parties and beach days for community service at a seaside conservation center—fair enough. But thanks to his new reputation, the cute intern, Chip, won’t even give him a shot. Still, Zack finds himself falling for Chip between dolphin encounters and shark costume disasters, which means he suddenly has way more on the line than he ever expected.

    Zack may be good at winning on the field, but can he keep up the lie without losing himself? 

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  • Review: The New Town Librarian by Kathy Anderson

    Title: The New Town Librarian
    Author:  Kathy Anderson
    Source:  Netgalley. I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
    Genre:  Contemporary
    Explicit? Nearly but not quite.
    Trigger Warnings:  One character exhibits harassing behaviours.
    Summary: Queer middle-aged librarian Nan Nethercott, a wisecracking hypochondriac with a lackluster career and a nonexistent love life, needs to make a drastic life change before it’s too late. When she lands a job as librarian in a seemingly idyllic small town in southern New Jersey, Nan quickly discovers unforeseen challenges. Nan’s landlady, Immaculata, launches daily intrusions from below. The library, housed in the former town jail, is overrun by marauding middle-schoolers. A mysterious reader leaves distressing messages in book stacks all over the library. Thomasina, the irresistible butch deli owner, is clearly a delicious affair and not the relationship Nan craves. There’s no turning back though. Nan must come up with her own wildly unorthodox solutions to what the town and its people throw at her and fight for what she wants until she makes a shiny new life—one with her first true home, surprising friends, a meaningful career, and a promising new love.

    My Thoughts:

    I want to start this review by saying that I went into this book expecting it to be one genre and it ended up being completely different.

    I expected romance but that is not what this book is, or rather not the type of romance I had anticipated.

    It is a book about love though, and it’s a deep love I appreciate so much, because it is about a love of books, a love of readers interacting and a love of libraries.

    Nan was someone who took me a little bit to love as a character, and the entire book, of course is from her point of view. She is a little judgemental at first, and very set in her ways and what she thinks she wants out of life. What I appreciate most about her, is that she does allow herself to change, because no matter what age you’re at it’s never bad to learn or turn over a new leaf.

    T was a character I almost feel like the book could actually do without. I admittedly almost put down the book because she was not to my taste.

    Jeremy is the one I became most attached to throughout the book, as well as the men in Nan’s bookclub.

    Overall this book left me with warm fuzzy feelings.

  • Review: Relative Fiction by Alaina Rose

    Title: Relative Fiction
    Author: Alaina Rose
    Source: Netgalley. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
    Genre: Romance
    Explicit? Yes.
    Trigger Warnings: Cheating
    Summary: Thomas Callaghan’s return home to Starling Hills, Michigan is meant to be temporary. But he’s not ready to go back to New York City yet either—back to his three jobs, sky-high rent, and the dream he’s been running down since high school—because he’s home to care for his sick dad. Add on his tumultuous career as a romance author and crippling writer’s block and…maybe he’s ready to admit that he’s not quite happy anymore.

    Enter his ex-best friend, Julia Ward, who he hasn’t spoken to in twelve years.

    Julia’s stuck, her trust in herself shredded, and she’s left in proverbial and actual ruin by her cheating ex-fiancé. So she does the only thing she can do: throws herself into her corporate job. And unfortunately moves back in with her parents in Starling Hills. But seeing Thomas stirs up parts of her that she’s lost. Her fingers begin to yearn for the keyboard, like back when she wrote fan fiction and the two planned to study in New York City together and become writers.

    One awkward get-together later and Thomas is desperate to rekindle their friendship, despite his lingering attraction to Julia and looming deadline for his next book. So they make a bet to see who can write 50,000 words first before Thomas returns to NYC, while studying romantic comedy films for inspiration in their writing…and in life.

    As their deadline grows closer, they learn that happiness is relative and fleeting. But between the loss of a parent and career shake-ups, past secrets and new betrayals, they realize this could be their second chance and that their love is worth fighting for.

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  • Review: In the Lives of Puppets by T.J. Klune

    Title: In the Lives of Puppets
    Author: T.J. Klune
    Source: Netgalley. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
    Genre: Sci-Fi
    Explicit? No.
    Trigger Warnings: The terrifying inevitable control our robot overl
    Summary: In a strange little home built into the branches of a grove of trees, live three robots–fatherly inventor android Giovanni Lawson, a pleasantly sadistic nurse machine, and a small vacuum desperate for love and attention. Victor Lawson, a human, lives there too. They’re a family, hidden and safe.

    The day Vic salvages and repairs an unfamiliar android labelled “HAP,” he learns of a shared dark past between Hap and Gio-a past spent hunting humans.

    When Hap unwittingly alerts robots from Gio’s former life to their whereabouts, the family is no longer hidden and safe. Gio is captured and taken back to his old laboratory in the City of Electric Dreams. So together, the rest of Vic’s assembled family must journey across an unforgiving and otherworldly country to rescue Gio from decommission, or worse, reprogramming.

    Along the way to save Gio, amid conflicted feelings of betrayal and affection for Hap, Vic must decide for himself: Can he accept love with strings attached?

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  • Someone is Always Watching

    Title: Someone is Always Watching
    Author: Kelley Armstrong
    Source: Netgalley. I received a free copy of this book for an honest review.
    Genre:     YA Thriller
    Explicit?     No
    Trigger Warnings: Gaslighting, Murder
    Summary: Blythe and her friends—Gabrielle, and brother and sister Tucker and Tanya—have always been a tight friend group, attending a local high school and falling in and out of love with each other. But an act of violence has caused a rift between Blythe and Tucker . . . and unexpected bursts of aggression and disturbing nightmares have started to become more frequent in their lives.

    The strange happenings culminate in a shocking event at school: Gabrielle is found covered in blood in front of their deceased principal, with no memory of what happened.

    Cracks in their friendship, as well as in their own memories, start appearing, threatening to expose long-forgotten secrets which could change the group’s lives forever. How can Blythe and her friends trust each other when they can’t even trust their own memories?

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  • For Her Consideration by Amy Spalding

    Title: For Her Consideration
    Author: Amy Spalding
    Source: Netgalley. I received a free copy of this book for an honest review.
    Genre:     Contemporary Romance
    Explicit?     No
    Trigger Warnings: Gaslighting, Anxiety, Depression
    Summary: Since a crushing breakup three years ago, Nina Rice has written romance, friends, her dreams of scriptwriting for TV, and even LA proper out of her life. Instead, she’s safely out in the suburbs in her aunt’s condo working her talent agency job from home, managing celebrity email accounts, and certain that’s plenty of writing—and plot—for her life. But a surprise meeting called by Ari Fox, a young actress on everyone’s radar, stirs up all kinds of feelings Nina thought she’d deleted for good . . .

    Ari is sexy, out and proud, and a serious control freak, according to Nina’s boss. She has her own ideas about how Nina should handle her emails—and about getting to know her ghostwriter. When she tells Nina she should be writing again, Nina suddenly finds it less scary to revisit her abandoned life than seriously consider that Ari is flirting with her. Between reconnecting with her old crew and working on a new script, a relationship with a movie star seems like something she’ll definitely mess up—but what could be more worth the risk?

    Amy Spalding’s For Her Consideration is full of heat and heart as Nina learns that her story just might include the kind of love that lasts.

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